Yes, here are the samples I have saved. Just not sure which style I like best.
Woods Fresh Air Poultry House
- Thread starter Jeff8482
- Start date
Yes, here are the samples I have saved. Just not sure which style I like best.
Might be even if you take pallets apart first..... length, width, and thickness of boards is so variable.
Wonders what's behind the the 3 samples that only show final finish?
I was
I was thinking they would go over plywood or something of that sort. I really like the look of the bottom left one but I'm not sure if water would get behind the pallet boards. If they are overlapped it's more water tight.
So this is not a saving money by using scrap wood to build a coop,
but just making it 'look cool'?
If you're going to sheath the framing with plywood,
you won't really need to add anything else.
If you want to add the cool shingled look over the plywood sheathing,
you should add house wrap over the plywood first because yes water could get behind the 'shingles'.
I guess that wouldn't be saving any money!!! That's why I just come up with the ideas and my husband and dad do the actual building. What I have in my head doesn't always make sense!!!
I does look cool though! Any cost savings tips?
I love the design of the Woods house. Architecturally, a beautiful addition to any yard or field.
I notice the 8 foot by 16 foot design is the same footprint as my Flying Fortress Chicken Tractor. I didn't have the carpentry skills to pull off a Woods design, mine is much simpler, but mine also faces south with open ventilation on the east and west sides.
For those with enough land for a chicken tractor, how cool would it be to build a Woods house on the strong, rigid frame my tractor has, and then have a draggable Woods tractor! What a beauty that would be!
Then add in the hanging feeder, waterer, and dustbox, along with a roll out nest box. Stunningly beautiful and extraordinarily easy and practical. You could drag it with a vehicle once a week, and never have to deal with poop, and at the same time, the hens will always have clean fresh grass in their beautiful home!
It's beyond my capability, but boy I'd love to see that.
I've attached a photo of my frame, it's so rigid, if three corners are supported, and one isn't, the unsupported corner doesn't even sag. Tremendously strong and able to handle being pulled without any damage or racking. I think the anti-dig mats are necessary in a tractor design, but I don't think they'd take away from the beauty of the Woods architecture.
Anyway, I just stumbled onto this thread and was super impressed. It's beauty and functionality really appeals to me.
There're three things that set this frame apart from normal. First it's full dimensional lumber, so these 2"x6" boards really are 2"x6", and have not been planed down the extra half inch, like most bought lumber.
Second they're salt water pier lumber, meaning they have 2.5 pounds of salt per cubic foot, instead of the .4 pounds per cubic foot in normal ground contact lumber. These boards will never rot in our lifetime. Un-planed lumber is common in salt water piers (it's much stronger), so a pier supplier of lumber is your best bet for securing this type of lumber.
Third is the bracing. The triangle is the strongest shape in building, you'll recall that's the shape used in most roof trusses. By lag bolting 7 foot scaffold bracing on the top and bottom of the lumber, in all four corners, you create an extraordinarily strong, rigid frame. You'll notice the buckets supporting this frame, I took one out and that corner didn't even sag. Overlay the top level of scaffold bracing with schedule 40 PVC water pipe, and wrap it in black Gorilla tape, you'll chickens will love to perch on it. Tape it at the ends and put a bolt through the middle, that runs through the PVC and metal scaffold brace, to prevent the PVC from becoming a log rolling contest for the chickens.
The true strength of the frame is demonstrated here. The entire weight of this tractor is balancing on a single point, with no sag or deflection in the frame, and this tractor is very heavy, between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds.
Here you can see just how easy it is to drag this heavy tractor, even with its 50 inch wide anti-dig mats down. The frame is sitting on standard 2x8 ground contact lumber that forms the skid on each side. There's a 2x8 crossover just in front of, and at the back of, the frame. The crossovers have been placed on top of the two side skids. Four 3/8" carriage bolts (the nuts on top) are at each corner, tieing the crossovers and skids together, then there's a 5/8 inch carriage bolt (nut side up) that comes up at the center of the four 3/8 inch bolts on each corner. This 5/8 inch bolt is what you attach the pull shackles to, for the chain that you drape over your trailer hitch to pull the tractor.
One other note, with the tractor up on cinder blocks beneath the crossovers, I was able to fully expose the skids. Once that was done, I used deck screws with washers to screw 60 mil pvc plastic onto the two side skids. I feel this is important because of course the plastic makes the tractor much easier to drag, and it also softens the angles of the wooden skids. With this system, it's no problem at all dragging the tractor not just forward, but sideways as well.
My tractor and the Woods house both depend on a particular side facing south. Therefore, if you field happens to set up like mine, it means you will mostly be doing sideways pulls, to keep the tractor or Woods house facing south.
The 60 mil PVC plastic sheet is what I also used for my tractor cover. It's very strong and UV stable. It's mostly used as the bottom to ponds and lakes (so they don't leak out their water) and as the final cover of landfills. There's a company here in Richmond that sells it called ACF, a 16 foot by 20 foot sheet was a couple of hundred dollars
Here's the hanging feeder. The Sterilite EZ Carry 95 quart clear plastic tote from Walmart, 3 inch PVC sewer elbows, some heavy zip ties, and a hot knife from Michaels. Eight feeding stations, clear plastic to see your feed level, and over a hundred pounds of feed capacity, meaning just once a month loading for my 13 chickens who free range.
This is a 7.5 gallon bucket I special ordered from ULINE. The extra height is good because it creates a higher psi at the chickens nipples near the bottom. The spin on lid is called a Gamma Seal Lid and I highly recommend it for its great convenience. I took off the handle and ran a chain through the handle holes. Can't see it here, but I put a piece of wood between the two chains to use as a spreader bar, so it's easy to spin off the lid.
Here's the hanging dust box. A Home Depot mortar mixing tub 2 foot by 3 foot with Home Depot Play Sand and Sulphur. You can also see the roll out nesting box in the background.
A closer look at the roll out nesting box. You'l notice there's two hens laying in it. It's from HenGear.com and is the medium box at 24 inches wide. It's rated up to 20 hens. I have 12 and it works great! I love it.
The slope of the nesting box is adjustable. I made mine steeper because my tractor is facing down a slope. So great not to have to mess with straw or poop in the nesting box.
As you can see, my eggs come through the side wall of the tractor, but this nesting box is reversible out of the box, the collection box can also be under the perch bar on the inside of the tractor if that's better for you. This system also prevents egg eating by the chickens.
Huge benefit here is CLEAN EGGS! Unwashed eggs can be stored and used at room temperature for over a month. I love having clean eggs on my counter next to the stove ready to go.
Speaking of eggs, do yourself a favor and get one of these, or get two and add the sections from the second one on top of the first one. One holds around 22 eggs, and two 44 eggs. On Amazon search for plastic egg skelter and you should find this. They were about $10 each. Prettier metal ones are more, but I was interested in capacity. You could always spray paint it a less obnoxious color.
This completely solved our "which eggs are these' problem. Just drop any you collect in the top of the skelter and use them from the bottom. Even with little kids doing the loading you'll always be using your oldest eggs first. I love efficiency, so I really love this little (or big) skelter.
I notice the 8 foot by 16 foot design is the same footprint as my Flying Fortress Chicken Tractor. I didn't have the carpentry skills to pull off a Woods design, mine is much simpler, but mine also faces south with open ventilation on the east and west sides.
For those with enough land for a chicken tractor, how cool would it be to build a Woods house on the strong, rigid frame my tractor has, and then have a draggable Woods tractor! What a beauty that would be!
Then add in the hanging feeder, waterer, and dustbox, along with a roll out nest box. Stunningly beautiful and extraordinarily easy and practical. You could drag it with a vehicle once a week, and never have to deal with poop, and at the same time, the hens will always have clean fresh grass in their beautiful home!
It's beyond my capability, but boy I'd love to see that.
I've attached a photo of my frame, it's so rigid, if three corners are supported, and one isn't, the unsupported corner doesn't even sag. Tremendously strong and able to handle being pulled without any damage or racking. I think the anti-dig mats are necessary in a tractor design, but I don't think they'd take away from the beauty of the Woods architecture.
Anyway, I just stumbled onto this thread and was super impressed. It's beauty and functionality really appeals to me.
There're three things that set this frame apart from normal. First it's full dimensional lumber, so these 2"x6" boards really are 2"x6", and have not been planed down the extra half inch, like most bought lumber.
Second they're salt water pier lumber, meaning they have 2.5 pounds of salt per cubic foot, instead of the .4 pounds per cubic foot in normal ground contact lumber. These boards will never rot in our lifetime. Un-planed lumber is common in salt water piers (it's much stronger), so a pier supplier of lumber is your best bet for securing this type of lumber.
Third is the bracing. The triangle is the strongest shape in building, you'll recall that's the shape used in most roof trusses. By lag bolting 7 foot scaffold bracing on the top and bottom of the lumber, in all four corners, you create an extraordinarily strong, rigid frame. You'll notice the buckets supporting this frame, I took one out and that corner didn't even sag. Overlay the top level of scaffold bracing with schedule 40 PVC water pipe, and wrap it in black Gorilla tape, you'll chickens will love to perch on it. Tape it at the ends and put a bolt through the middle, that runs through the PVC and metal scaffold brace, to prevent the PVC from becoming a log rolling contest for the chickens.
The true strength of the frame is demonstrated here. The entire weight of this tractor is balancing on a single point, with no sag or deflection in the frame, and this tractor is very heavy, between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds.
Here you can see just how easy it is to drag this heavy tractor, even with its 50 inch wide anti-dig mats down. The frame is sitting on standard 2x8 ground contact lumber that forms the skid on each side. There's a 2x8 crossover just in front of, and at the back of, the frame. The crossovers have been placed on top of the two side skids. Four 3/8" carriage bolts (the nuts on top) are at each corner, tieing the crossovers and skids together, then there's a 5/8 inch carriage bolt (nut side up) that comes up at the center of the four 3/8 inch bolts on each corner. This 5/8 inch bolt is what you attach the pull shackles to, for the chain that you drape over your trailer hitch to pull the tractor.
One other note, with the tractor up on cinder blocks beneath the crossovers, I was able to fully expose the skids. Once that was done, I used deck screws with washers to screw 60 mil pvc plastic onto the two side skids. I feel this is important because of course the plastic makes the tractor much easier to drag, and it also softens the angles of the wooden skids. With this system, it's no problem at all dragging the tractor not just forward, but sideways as well.
My tractor and the Woods house both depend on a particular side facing south. Therefore, if you field happens to set up like mine, it means you will mostly be doing sideways pulls, to keep the tractor or Woods house facing south.
The 60 mil PVC plastic sheet is what I also used for my tractor cover. It's very strong and UV stable. It's mostly used as the bottom to ponds and lakes (so they don't leak out their water) and as the final cover of landfills. There's a company here in Richmond that sells it called ACF, a 16 foot by 20 foot sheet was a couple of hundred dollars
Here's the hanging feeder. The Sterilite EZ Carry 95 quart clear plastic tote from Walmart, 3 inch PVC sewer elbows, some heavy zip ties, and a hot knife from Michaels. Eight feeding stations, clear plastic to see your feed level, and over a hundred pounds of feed capacity, meaning just once a month loading for my 13 chickens who free range.
This is a 7.5 gallon bucket I special ordered from ULINE. The extra height is good because it creates a higher psi at the chickens nipples near the bottom. The spin on lid is called a Gamma Seal Lid and I highly recommend it for its great convenience. I took off the handle and ran a chain through the handle holes. Can't see it here, but I put a piece of wood between the two chains to use as a spreader bar, so it's easy to spin off the lid.
Here's the hanging dust box. A Home Depot mortar mixing tub 2 foot by 3 foot with Home Depot Play Sand and Sulphur. You can also see the roll out nesting box in the background.
A closer look at the roll out nesting box. You'l notice there's two hens laying in it. It's from HenGear.com and is the medium box at 24 inches wide. It's rated up to 20 hens. I have 12 and it works great! I love it.
The slope of the nesting box is adjustable. I made mine steeper because my tractor is facing down a slope. So great not to have to mess with straw or poop in the nesting box.
As you can see, my eggs come through the side wall of the tractor, but this nesting box is reversible out of the box, the collection box can also be under the perch bar on the inside of the tractor if that's better for you. This system also prevents egg eating by the chickens.
Huge benefit here is CLEAN EGGS! Unwashed eggs can be stored and used at room temperature for over a month. I love having clean eggs on my counter next to the stove ready to go.
Speaking of eggs, do yourself a favor and get one of these, or get two and add the sections from the second one on top of the first one. One holds around 22 eggs, and two 44 eggs. On Amazon search for plastic egg skelter and you should find this. They were about $10 each. Prettier metal ones are more, but I was interested in capacity. You could always spray paint it a less obnoxious color.
This completely solved our "which eggs are these' problem. Just drop any you collect in the top of the skelter and use them from the bottom. Even with little kids doing the loading you'll always be using your oldest eggs first. I love efficiency, so I really love this little (or big) skelter.
Last edited:
"For those with enough land for a chicken tractor, how cool would it be to build a Woods house on the strong, rigid frame my tractor has, and then have a draggable Woods tractor! What a beauty that would be!"
Thats what I did. Except mine is 8' x 12'.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/woods-colony-house-portable.1104954/
BTW, in days of old, houses of this size were called a "colony house". I have numerous books that describe them as such, but none ever explain why they use the term "colony".
Thats what I did. Except mine is 8' x 12'.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/woods-colony-house-portable.1104954/
BTW, in days of old, houses of this size were called a "colony house". I have numerous books that describe them as such, but none ever explain why they use the term "colony".
Sophocles
In the Brooder
- Mar 15, 2017
- 46
- 25
- 39
I imagine it's derived from wild bird colonies, in other words a group of birds that roost or nest in one location, very close to eachother.
Great build Howard!!
The only thing I would do different is make it a true tractor that's moved every week. I'm afraid I'm lazy. I love never messing with poop, it's always one step behind the tractor being fertilizer!
My tractor is ugly, but very functional, and so simple even someone with hardly any carpentry skills like me, can build it themselves. But marrying the tractor concept to the Woods house would be the best of both worlds!
The only thing I would do different is make it a true tractor that's moved every week. I'm afraid I'm lazy. I love never messing with poop, it's always one step behind the tractor being fertilizer!
My tractor is ugly, but very functional, and so simple even someone with hardly any carpentry skills like me, can build it themselves. But marrying the tractor concept to the Woods house would be the best of both worlds!
With the original portable colony houses, most were built on skids, but had raised plank wooden floors. NOT dirt floors. Goal was to move them around to fresh sites, but to then open the pop door and let them free range in new, exotic locations......like out in a cornfield in summer. The house was just home base for them to return to at night. With wood floors, the only contact points are the skids used as runners. So really easy to move. Back in the day, they could hitch a team of draft horses to a 10' x 16' Woods house and move it easily. Heavy plank wood floors were also used as barriers to rats.
My design includes a dirt floor, and I did so with the idea that I could drag it around to move it, but to date, have not done so. I use deep litter and my population load is light, so the soil below has not yet become "fowled". Dirt floors do get that way over time.
The problem with dirt floors is closing the ends so birds can't get out, while still keeping them elevated so they ends don't become dozier blades when you try to move the thing. I have a 2 inch gap in mine, which is closed off by wire aprons to keep digging predators out.
My design includes a dirt floor, and I did so with the idea that I could drag it around to move it, but to date, have not done so. I use deep litter and my population load is light, so the soil below has not yet become "fowled". Dirt floors do get that way over time.
The problem with dirt floors is closing the ends so birds can't get out, while still keeping them elevated so they ends don't become dozier blades when you try to move the thing. I have a 2 inch gap in mine, which is closed off by wire aprons to keep digging predators out.
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